Hi everyone!
Here's a new chapter, I hope you like it.
I would like to dedicate it to Mr. Alan Rickman, who passed away yesterday. He was such a great man, such a talented actor, and the perfect Severus. We'll miss him. Rest in peace, Mr. Rickman.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed (I love you guys so much) and all the people following this story.
Enjoy xx

wildest dreams
VOLUME II

CHAPTER TWELVE

I woke up the next morning to the sound of heavy pouring rain. I opened an eye and looked by the window. Wonderful. A great way to start off the year. Sighing softly, I sat up and opened my curtains. Angelina was already up, of course.

"Hey," I said softly, not wanting to startle her.

She looked up and gave me a weak smile. I hadn't had the chance to talk to her the previous night – when I had gone up to the dormitory, her curtains were already drawn.

"How are you feeling ?"

She shrugged as she laced her shoes. I hesitated – should I ask her about Fred? Maybe she didn't want to talk about it. I spent so much time thinking about what I should say that ended up speaking first.

"Look, I don't want things to be weird."

"Oh," was all I managed to answer.

"I mean – yes, Fred broke up with me. That's that. But that doesn't mean you can't be friends with him anymore, or that I'll stop being your friend. I might take some distance, y'know – I don't really want to hang out around him right now."

"Of course, that's perfectly understandable. Even I don't want to see him right now, the prat –"

"Addy."

"What?"

"Don't."

I bit my lip as I stared at her – she looked so sad. Disappointed. Angry. Ashamed. I just wanted to hug her as hard as I could, tell her that everything would be all right, but before I could move she was already on her way downstairs. I sighed and started to get ready for the first day of class.

I went down to the Great Hall with Alicia, where we met with the others. I noticed that Angelina wasn't there.

"D'you know where Angie is?" I asked the boys as I sat down.

Fred carefully looked away, and George shrugged.

"Didn't see her this morning. Thought she was with you," answered Lee, his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"She left early. That's odd."

"Schedules," said George, handing me a piece of parchment.

I eagerly grabbed it and looked it over. Blimey. It was going to be a busy year.

"We've got the pink woman on Tuesday," said Fred.

"I wonder what she'll be like," said Alicia.

"Probably gonna teach us how to turn everything pink."

I shook my head at George's comment, staring down at my schedule.

"How's yours?" I asked him.

"Very uninteresting."

"Let me see."

"I threw it away."

"What ?"

"Well it's not like I'm planning to go to class anyway."

I rolled my eyes at him. The twins had never been the best of students, but at least they usually showed up to class. Usually.

"Have you had any applicants?"

"Two, actually," said Fred. "One of them was terrified but he relaxed as soon as we talked about gold. I guessed those kind of issues start at an early age…"

"Well, I heard Hermione's furious," interrupted Alicia.

"She can be as angry as she wants, that's not going to stop us."

As I was looking around the Great Hall, I spotted Angelina talking to Harry. I frowned, wondering what she had to say to him. However, I didn't wonder for long, as she headed straight for us as soon as she was done talking to Harry. Her hair was up, and she looked determined. She took the seat next to Lee, who abruptly stopped his story about a distant relative who had lost his fortune playing something called "the lottery" – a Muggle thing.

"There's something I want to tell you," said Angelina.

We all stared at her in silence, waiting for the rest.

"I've been made Quidditch Captain."

I grinned as Alicia clapped.

"Congrats, Angie!" said Lee.

"You're going to be great," nodded Alicia.

She slightly blushed, smiling. I glanced at Fred – he looked a little pale. I could only guess that he was imagining what practices would be like for him now.

"Well, we have to find a new Keeper now that Wood's gone. Tryouts will be on Friday at five, and I want you all there. Even you, Addy."

"I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."

"You'll try out, I hope, Adds?" said Fred, feigning enthusiasm.

"Funny. Very funny," I said, glaring at him, while the others laughed.

McGonagall was still going around the table handing schedules – we soon heard Ron groan as he looked at his. Fred and George turned to see what he had to say, but I wanted to talk to Angelina.

"Looks like we'll have Professor Vector on Friday mornings again," I told her.

"Yeah," she answered vaguely.

"It's not so bad. She isn't as grumpy as McGonagall in the morning."

"Seventh year with her's supposed to be the hardest, though."

"Oh."

There was a short silence – I could see that even though we were talking, she wasn't really into our conversation – her eyes kept glancing at Fred who was talking loudly a few seats away.

"I knew it would be you," I said, catching her attention.

"What d'you mean?"

"About the team. Oliver had said so to me, when he left Hogwarts. Said there was no doubt he would choose you, that you were the best for the job."

She blushed a little, and I was glad to see a smile spread on her face.

"That's nice of him."

"He could be nice, sometimes. As long as he wasn't on the Pitch."

We both chuckled – Oliver's speeches on the Pitch were things of legend.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want to ruin the surprise."

She smiled again, and for a moment I thought I had sufficiently distracted her, but her eyes turned to Fred again, and the smile was soon gone.

"Angie –"

"I have to go to Herbology. I'll see you at lunch."

"Yeah."

I quietly looked at her leave, sighing softly – if only I could find something to make her feel better... A trip to the kitchens? The idea slowly formed in my mind, and soon my plan was ready. Smiling, already picturing her reaction in my head, I turned to the twins, who were talking about their Snackboxes to Hermione.

"You'll be singing a different tune soon enough, Hermione. You're starting your fifth year, you'll be begging us for a Snackbox before long."

"And why would starting fifth year mean I want a Skiving Snackbox?"

"Fifth year's O.W.L. year."

"So?"

"So you've got your exams coming up, haven't you? They'll be keeping your noses so hard to that grindstone they'll be rubbed raw."

"Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to O.W.L.s. Tears and tantrums… Patricia Stimpson kept coming over faint…"

That poor girl, I thought as I remembered the time she fainted during Potions. Snape hadn't even flinched, looking tremendously unsurprised and had asked the boys to bring her to the Infirmary.

"Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember?" asked Fred.

"That's 'cause you put Bulbadox Power in his pajamas."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten… Hard to keep track sometimes, isn't it?"

"Even Addy broke into tears during Charms class."

I let out a cry of protest.

"Oi! That wasn't because of the exams! How many times do I have to bloody tell you, it was Montague who cast a Sobbing charm at me!"

"Sure, whatever you keep telling yourself, Adds," shrugged Fred.

I glared at him.

"Watch your words, Weasley. I still haven't forgiven you, y'know."

"I expected nothing less of you."

"Anyway," said George, clearing his throat, "it's a nightmare of a year, the fifth. If you care about exam results anyway. Fred and I managed to keep our spirits up somehow."

"Yeah… you got, what was it, three O.W.L.s each?" asked Ron.

"Yep"nodded Fred. "But we feel our futures lie outside the world of academic achievement."

"We seriously debated whether we were going to bother coming back for our seventh year, now that we've got –"

George suddenly stopped mid-sentence, but I didn't focus on what he said next. I stared at him, astounded. Had he and Fred seriously considered not coming back to Hogwarts? They hadn't told me about that. I looked down at my half-eaten breakfast, suddenly feeling left out. Why hadn't they told me? Maybe they had already taken their decision before I arrived at Grimmald Place, but still, it was a big deal.

"You coming, Adds?"

The sound of my name brought me back to reality, and I looked up to George who was staring back at me, a stack of toast in his right hand. He and Fred had gotten up, ready to leave.

"Oh – right, sure."

I took one last sip of my orange juice and followed them out of the Great Hall.

"We should probably head to Binns' class, I think third-year Hufflepuffs have a class," said Fred, taking out a few Extendable Ears from his pocket.

"Yeah, good plan" nodded George. "And that's closest to Herbology."

"Huh, y'know what?" I said, stopping.

They turned to look at me, eyebrows arched. They looked so similar at that moment – messy hair, toasts in hands, I almost had trouble telling them apart.

"I think I might head up to the common room. I've got a free period, I might try and get some reading done."

"All right," shrugged Fred, even though he had arched an eyebrow at the last part of my sentence.

"You okay?" asked George.

"Yeah. I'll see you guys later."

George took a step towards me, but I quickly smiled, waved and turned around to start walking in the opposite direction. I didn't know what was wrong with me, why I was so upset – the twins didn't have to tell me everything. They had no obligation to do so. I didn't tell them every single thing about me. But the idea of not coming back to Hogwarts – that was huge, wasn't it? Maybe I was overreacting. I probably was.

After briefly visiting the kitchens to put my plan for Angelina into place, I decided to go back to the Common Room. I was nearly there when I heard someone call my name – my full name.

"Adelaide!"

I stopped abruptly, looking behind me. I frowned when I saw Ethan Wellington jogging towards me. What did he want?

"Hi," he said when he reached me.

"Hello," I answered awkwardly.

Even though he had gotten older – he had a bloody beard, after all – he still had the same smile, the smile that I had always found a little creepy.

"Are you busy?"

"Er – no, not really, I'm going to the common room…" I answered, but automatically regretted it.

"Brilliant! Me too! Can I join you?"

"Er – sure…"

"Brilliant!"

He really had to stop saying 'brilliant' all the time. But then, that might be like asking to stop saying 'bloody' all the time. We started walking, and he immediately started the conversation, asking me about my schedule, and telling me 'how odd is it that it's our last year?', and how he would miss the castles and the classes. He basically talked the whole way – I almost didn't say anything – which was fine by me. When we were almost at the Tower, I stopped.

"Look, Ethan, can I be honest with you?"

"Of course."

He looked a little startled – but was still smiling.

"I don't want you to get any wrong ideas."

"Okay…"

"You know I have a boyfriend, right?"

He stared at me as if I had just told him his cat was dead. I stared back, waiting for a reaction. I had never felt more awkward.

"What?" he finally blubbered out.

"I'm sorry, I just –"

"No, no, Adelaide – I wasn't flirting with you or anything."

"Oh."

I felt the blood drain out of my face. Well that was embarrassing.

"I just – look, I'm going to be honest with you too."

"Okay," I replied, a little unsure that I wanted him to be.

"There's someone I fancy. That I really fancy, y'know. And it's not you – it's just… She's in your – how could I say – entourage, and I thought that if I became friends with you then maybe you could introduce me to her, and…"

"Are you talking about Alicia?"

Ethan's face went from pale pink to bright red in an instant. I nearly smiled.

"How – how do you know?"

"I just do," I said quickly. "Look, Ethan, Alicia's not the kind of person that will take on subtle hints. She's not good with that. If you fancy her, just tell her."

"Oh, I couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because – because I can't!"

"What are you so afraid of?"

He scoffed.

"That she'll laugh at me!"

"She won't laugh at you, I promise."

But he didn't want to hear it – he kept shaking his head. I bit my lip, hesitating to offer him my help. I didn't know him very well, after all, but if there was a chance that it could work between him and Alicia, I didn't want to be the person to keep them away from each other.

"All right. I'll tell her about you."

"You will?"

The bright smile that appeared on his face brought one to mine.

"Yes, I will. But at some point you'll have to tell her. So, start practicing or something."

"All right. Cheers, Adelaide, that's really nice of you!"

"You're going to have to calling me Adelaide if you want me to help you."

His smile seemed to faint a little, but came back when he realized I was joking.

"Brilliant. I'll see you around then."

I shook my head as he turned to walk away, but I called out after him.

"Ethan!"

He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say sorry. For what happened in second year."

He frowned – obviously, he didn't know what I talking about. Maybe he forgot about it – which would be good, but I still felt like I needed to apologize.

"Y'know, when I… when I called you a… a werewolf."

I had talked so faintly I wasn't sure he had heard me – and it took him a few seconds to react. But then, he bursted out laughing – his laughter sure was loud.

"Bloody hell! I had forgotten about that."

I smiled awkwardly as he kept on laughing.

"Don't worry about it – seriously."

"Right. Great" I smiled, shaking my head.

"See you, Addy."

"See you, Mr. Werewolf."

He walked away, still laughing out loud. I shook my head, amused, momentarily forgetting about Angelina and the twins – I entered the common room, which was almost empty, went to get my Muggle Studies book with the good intention to get through a few chapters before class, but when I dropped in one of the couches and opened the book I could not concentrate. The words didn't mean anything, they jumbled around flew out of the pages – and my eyes felt heavy. I could rest them, just for a second…

I woke up in a jolt. Sharply looking behind me, I saw that a group of girls next to the window were laughing loudly – probably what had woken me… I froze – for how long had I been asleep? I looked for the nearest clock, my heart racing. Muggle Studies started in five minutes! Letting out a cry of panic which got me a few curious stares, I jumped from the couch and ran upstairs to grab my bag. I then ran halfway through the castle to where the class was held – I entered the room 2 minutes late. Burbage gave me a pointed look, but did not comment. I sat down at the nearest seat and breathed out, my heart racing so loudly I was sure everyone in the room could hear it. Brilliant job, Addy. What a great way to start the school year.

After class, my stomach was rumbling like thunder – I hadn't eaten much at breakfast. When I entered the Great Hall, it was packed with students. I was able to squeeze between George and Lee, and grabbed a few pasties, some beans and toast. The latter gave me a strange look.

"What?"

"You all right?" he asked, squinting his eyes.

"I'm hungry."

He nodded – I squinted my eyes back at him.

"You have no right to judge me – look at your own plate."

"Fair point."

I shook my head, and felt a hand on my thigh.

"Hey," said George in my ear.

"Hey. How was Herbology?"

"Boring. We sold 3 Extendable Ears."

"That's great," I smiled as I was chewing on a pasty.

He stared back at me.

"You sure?"

"What d'you mean?"

"You sure it's 'great'?"

I frowned at him.

"Yes."

"Doesn't sound like it."

"Oh, c'mon, George. It's just – of course it's going to sell well. All your products are brilliant. I'm just not surprised – I knew you would be successful."

He stared at me for a few seconds, as if he was trying to decide whether to believe me or not – I smiled, trying to convince him, but he just looked away, joining Alicia and Fred's conversation about Friday's tryouts. I took another bite of my pasty, but it was suddenly much less tasty – what was wrong with me today?!

After lunch, we all went to Charms class – George held my hand the whole way, as he usually did, but we barely exchanged two words. Angelina wanted to partner up with me – and I accepted, not wanting to leave her alone, so George went to work with Alicia, and Fred and Lee sat together. I kept glancing at George throughout the whole class, looking for a sign that he was mad at me – but he only stared ahead of him quietly as Flitwick gave us his N.E.W.T. speech.

When the class was finally over, I said goodbye to everyone and turned the opposite way to get to History of Magic, which I was taking alone. Deep in my thoughts, I nearly screamed out of surprise when someone took my hand. I looked up and frowned at the sight of the familiar face.

"What are you doing?" I asked George.

"Walking with you," he answered simply.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"You've been alone nearly all day. Thought you'd like some company."

He glanced at me, as if he wanted me to confirm – I smiled softly, squeezing his hand.

"I do. Thanks."

He smirked, grabbing my waist to pull me closer to him. We walked slowly to the first floor, and I told him about my walk with Ethan Wellington – he laughed so much at my poor attempt to apologize about the werewolf-incident that his eyes glistened with tears.

When we arrived at Classroom 4F, I was going to let go of his hand but he walked with me inside. I stared at him as he sat down at one of the desks, inviting me to do the same.

"Once again, what are you doing?"

"Attending class."

I glared at him.

"You're not taking History of Magic."

"So?"

"So, you really want to be bored to death for the next two hours?"

"I'm not going to be bored, I'm going to be with you."

"C'mon."

"What? I'm serious."

I shook my head, trying hard not to smile.

"You can't even be here. You didn't get the O.W.L.."

"You really think Binns will notice? Bloke's so dead he probably doesn't know he's a ghost."

I was still shaking my head.

"I can't believe you."

"Sit down, Adds."

I obliged, putting my heavy books on the desk. Binns arrived then, floated to the desk at the front of the class and started talking without further ado – his monotonous voice filled the room.

"You'll distract me," I whispered, but I was far from serious.

"I'll behave, I promise."

I snorted.

"You don't even know what that word means."

"Well that's just mean. I'm offended."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

I gave him a nudge in the ribs, but he caught my arm and held it against his chest. I sighed, even though I couldn't get rid of the stupid smile on my face.

"George."

"Yes?"

"Will you let my arm go? I have to take notes."

"I'll take notes for you."

I shook my head as he fumbled through my bag and got out parchment and ink – then he started scribbling, faking to listen to what Binns was saying.

"Goblins… yes, goblins… Boring? What? Yes, very boring indeed."

He had written down "I, Cuthbert Binns, am the most boring human being in History" and was underlining the word 'boring'. At this point, I was laughing so hard my sides hurt, with my arm still tightly held by George. And then he looked at me, a twinkle in his eye, and I suddenly so grateful for him, and so in love with him – yes, in love with him, and I thought my heart would explode.